Some past and present members of the preserved fleets, including the troublesome RM coach which was at Gravesend on this day and had to be withdrawn from service on the next rounder because the platform doors wouldn’t open. The East Kent Reliance has been posted before but the sad picture my old mate Ted’s RML hasn’t. RML 898 went to the USA twice on publicity tours for London Transport in 1962, there being a quite well known picture of the bus climbing the streets of San Francisco. The vehicle was withdrawn from service following a serious accident many years later in which the driver had to be cut out of the cab. A while later Ted acquired it in the condition shown and set about resurrecting it.
ERF-NGC-European:
Chaps, you can still praise Valkerie’s informative piece without actually including the whole thing in your reply. Just delete the text. The praise will be more powerful as a one-liner rather than a thousand-and-one liner Robert
Hear hear, the advice could well be applied to quite a few threads on here.
No offence to anyone but a lot of stuff (replies) could very easily be trimmed, for example *******(members user name), just say “thanks to ****** for the info/research” .
ERF-NGC-European:
Chaps, you can still praise Valkerie’s informative piece without actually including the whole thing in your reply. Just delete the text. The praise will be more powerful as a one-liner rather than a thousand-and-one liner Robert
Ray Smyth:
Ribble Leyland PD3 1772 has just come down Skelhorne Street in Liverpool and is about
to enter the Ribble Bus Station. When these PD3s were in good fettle, they were good to drive.
Ray Smyth.
Ray
The photo is of 1722 (PCK363).
1706 - 1755 were new in 1961 and had PCK registrations.
1756 - 1800 were new in 1962 and had RCK registrations.
Hi Trooper8011, Thanks for spotting my error, I have corrected it, Cheers, Ray.
cav551:
The picture has been taken at one of the Amersham and District Motorbus Society’s annual running days. This is either Chiltern Ave or St George’s Rd.
The Green Line network was run by London Transport as an Express, limited stop, long distance service, linking towns on the very fringes of its operating area with Central London. The routes however continued across London to terminate in another town in the opposite geographical corner. Amersham had two services, the 703 which ran to Wrotham and the 710 which finished in Crawley. The journey times for routes could be up to 4 hours, with the bus usually swapping crews with the distant operating garage at some point en route. Occasionally a crew would work right through.
The vehicles featured are AEC Regal IVs known by LT as RFs, these were the workhorse of the Green Line network being capable both of a good turn of speed - around 50mph and able to tolerate crawling through the congestion on a hot day. The one known failing being the occasional incidence of overheating at speed, caused by turbulence under the bus interfering with the airflow to the radiator. By the late 1970s LT, and London Country Buses who took over Green Line, were desperate to modernise the fleet, however they found that the spares situation and appalling unreliability of their modern fleet left them with insufficient vehicles on a daily basis. While the RF and RT ( double deck AEC Regent IIIs) were all in the region of 25 + years old, they could be relied upon to complete a full day’s duty without incident and freqently run to the next scheduled maintenance inspection without requiring the level of attention their more modern counterparts demanded.
During the same 4 year period of maintaining an RF and the Green Line coach version of the Routemaster (RMC) for the same enthusiasts, I found that the fabled trouble-free Routemaster required approaching three times as many visits for attention compared to the RF.
I grew up surrounded by RF bus routes in the Kingston and Surrey area but the RMC on the 715 route was an impressive bit of kit.Have to say that with the passing of time and the place often being changed out of recognition and people and relatives of the day faded/fading away these old pics bring a tear or three to my eyes.
hayday:
Should Alf Moseley of Loughborough be added to this list? I believe they had an early association with Caetano but I’m sure they also built their own bespoke bodies. Also, are the Moseley group of West Yorkshire anyway associated with them (one would assume so being in the same industry - but I don’t know!)
Wasn’t Alf Moseley just a dealer (and importer) for Caetano? I can’t recall ever hearing of a Moseley body. Yeates, of course, were local to Moseley, although I never liked their rather over-ornate designs
I hadn’t yet taken time to watch carefully these to videos; they’re really excellent! The organisation of the meeting looks perfect, and the very good sound-taking brings me back straight to thye time I was a teeanager in London c. 1970; great stuff!
Just two questions though:
what’s the make of MXX 313? Perhaps Bedford or Austin?
were the RTs fitted with power steering?
Compared to the “oldies”, EPD 543 V looks poorly built.
what’s the make of MXX 313? Perhaps Bedford or Austin?
were the RTs fitted with power steering?
MXX 313 is a Guy ‘Special’, hence the ‘GS’ fleet number. They were built to fulfil a requirement for lightweight country buses, but I can’t remember what they replaced.
I shouldn’t imagine that RTs ever had power steering
what’s the make of MXX 313? Perhaps Bedford or Austin?
were the RTs fitted with power steering?
Compared to the “oldies”, EPD 543 V looks poorly built.
MXX 313 (GS 13) is a GUY Special. There is much information about them in the link. Briefly, a small bus for low traffic, narrow rural routes built on a Guy chassis but with a Ford Thames front end. Delightful vehicles to drive once you get used to having a bonnet stuck out the front. They have a reversed pattern 4 speed constant mesh gearbox to keep you awake and a rather confusing warning light for low vacuum brake ‘pressure’ - it goes out when the assistance drops! I will have a look on U tube to see if there are any John Lidstone videos of a ride in one.
RTs did not have power steering so they are heavy to drive with a full load. Nowadays the weight of passengers has rather increased from the time these buses were designed - 1938. In recent years the Purfleet bus company Ensignbus put out their entire fleet of historic buses into full London Service whenever there is severe trouble on the capital’s railways. It is noteceable just how hard the driver is working to keep up with the traffic and how he will usually apply some right hand lock when he pulls up behind another bus at a stop. I enjoy the rare occasions I get to drive an RT loaded, but cross country, at speed the body sway can be a little alarming when you see in the mirror the whole of the offside rear tyre appear from under the wheel arch. This is compounded by the fact that the driver’s seat is mounted on the front bulkhead of the body, so the steering column and pedals actually move sideways as the body sways!
The second link is a flyer for Ensign’s 2017 Xmas running day which I hope does not offend Forum rules re advertising. This is an annual event when again the majority of their historic fleet is in service. There is nearly always a surprise revelation of their latest restoration. The details of this year’s event in early December will I assume, appear shortly on line.
I will have a look to see what sort of bus EPD 543 V is.
EPD 543 V is a Leyland National. The link has further iformation about the type in London service. This one seems to still have its fixed-head Leyland 500 series engine fitted. These in their horizontal form were a bit more reliable than the vertical version, although some in later years had Gardner 6HLXB engines installed. The bus was of entirely steel integral construction which naturally suffered from tinworm.
Hayday wrote:
Should Alf Moseley of Loughborough be added to this list? I believe they had an early association with Caetano but I’m sure they also built their own bespoke bodies. Also, are the Moseley group of West Yorkshire anyway associated with them (one would assume so being in the same industry - but I don’t know!)
240 Gardner replied:-
Wasn’t Alf Moseley just a dealer (and importer) for Caetano? I can’t recall ever hearing of a Moseley body. Yeates, of course, were local to Moseley, although I never liked their rather over-ornate designs
240 Gardner UNQUOTE.
TruckNetUK . Old Time Lorries . Buses,Motorcoaches And Lorries . Page 10. VALKYRIE .Monday,8th October,2018 .
Hello Hayday and 240 Gardner How I wish that I still had a certain,now historic,magazine that documents the motorcoach imports of Alf Moseley of Loughborough from 1968 to at least the early 1980s - I’m determined to get myself another copy!
But all is not lost I’ve managed to get the following information together,but I don’t think it tells the full story at all,far from it!
From what I can make out there was originally Alf Moseley of Loughborough,a dealer in motorcoaches and buses,that began importing Salvador Caetano motorcoaches in to the United Kingdom in 1968. More about these motorcoaches later.
Alf Moseley later changed its name to Moseley Continental to reflect its business in importing Salvador Caetano motorcoaches.
Salvador Caetano set up its own motorcoach importing company in the United Kingdom,Salvador Caetano (UK) Ltd,Northampton,in 1984 and ceased business with Moseley. Salvador Caetano (UK) Ltd later moved to new premises in Heather,Coalville,Leicestershire,in 1988.
A new subsidiary company,S. C. Coachbuilders Ltd,at Waterlooville,England,was set up in 1998 when the factory at that location was bought from from administrators acting on behalf of the UVG - Urban Vehicles Group,which had gone bust.UVG had originally taken over motor bodybuilder Wadham Stringer in 1993,which became WS and then became UVG in 1995. S.C.Coachbuilders did repairs,parts and also produced UVG-designed bus and motorcoach bodies under the Caetano marque name. However,S.C.Coachbuilders body production ceased in 2007 and the factory was sold in 2009.
Salvador Caetano (UK) Ltd became Caetano UK Ltd in 2006.
Now as far as I can make out the Moseley company changed its name to Alf Moseley Continental,and became van and truck dealers in Loughborough.
This company may or may not be connected to the following group of Moseley companies that deal in motorcoaches and buses in the North,East,West and South of the United Kingdom,in Eire and Northern Ireland…each covers different areas that I’ve listed:-
As far as Salvador Caetano motorcoaches and the Moseley Continental name are concerned,Salvador Caetano built all of the imported motorcoach bodies and the different models were sold as Salvador Caetano;each model had a different model name such as Alpha,Cascais,Estoril,Faro,Lisboa,Sintra,etc…the Moseley Continental name signified the importers name - it may have been referred to as the actual marque name of the body by some people. But close inspection of the body would reveal the Salvador Caetano badge,the model name,the chassis marque name and in many if not all cases,the Salvador Caetano marque name It is probably best to refer to these motorcoach bodies as
Salvador Caetano-Moseley Continental? …before the model name. BUT,they are all officially listed under the Salvador Caetano -later Caetano marque names.
But,as I said,the list of British motor body builders for motorcoaches,buses and trolleybuses is by no means exhaustive …but since Salvador Caetano is Portuguese it is listed in the foreign importers bus and motorcoach list
3.AEC Regent/1950 Chalmers Mobile Workshop-Van 4x2 Heavy Recovery Vehicle-Breakdown Lorry,Chassis No.6612314, AGX 520,London,6-1933,London Transport,No.738J.New as LT STL169 DD Omnibus.Converted into HRV in 1950. Andy CC-OilTreader.1#
4.Leyland Titan TD5/Beadle,Mobile Workshop-Dropside-Bodied,4x2 Heavy Recovery Vehicle-Breakdown Lorry,Chassis No.17089,Body No.709,EUF 182,5-1938.New as DD Omnibus.Became HRV in 1957,Southdown,No.0182. Barry Lewis-OilTreader. 1#
Thanks for that mate, I have now been able to locate it on Google Earth.
This one from The Manchester Archives say’s Cannon Street of course it’s all changed around there now but I just wondered as a couple of posters have mentioned about mobile canteens for the bus drivers and conductors, could that be one parked up on the left of the picture.UNQUOTE.
NOTE: I think it’s PND 428,No.3428…the photograph is not all that clear.
The motorcars are a Rover P2 or P3 and ahead of it is probably an Austin 16
It is almost certainly Leyland Tiger TS2 Mobile Canteen,VR 5996,Manchester C.T.,No.A88 that was stationed on Cannon Street Bus Station,Manchester city centre,from 1950-1961 - Leyland Titan PD2 double decker bus,PND 428,Manchester C.T.,No.3428 dates from 1956.
The Leyland Tiger,VR 5996,was new to Manchester as a B32R single decker bus,No.33,served ass an ambulance from 1940 to 1945,became a bus until 1948,then was converted in to a mobile canteen,No.A88,it was sold in 1962 and unfortunately scrapped
But a sister Leyland Tiger TS2,VR 5742,Manchester C.T.,No.28 is now beautifully preserved :- This Leyland too became an ambulance,A311,from 4-1940 to 6-1947,then became a mobile canteen,A87.It was sold in 1967 and,as has already been mentioned,it is now preserved by the Greater Manchester Transport Museum:-
This SETRA is the team coach of Castelsarrasin Rugby Club in France.
It is seen here at the Hotel Best Indalo in Mojacar, Almeria Province
in Spain, 6.10.2018. Pictures are courtesy of Paul Roberts, ex HGV driver.
King Long coaches, very stylish, but were they any good?
This one was operated by Globe Coaches of Barnsley, but not for long, and is currently on SORN with the DVLA.
In the Summer of 1999, my wife and I received an invitation to the wedding of the eldest daughter
of some very close friends of ours. Antonia was to be married to Rafael, a young man from the
Loire valley in France. I contacted Brittany Ferries straight away, and booked us both and my car
on the Portsmouth to Ouistreham (Caen) ferry, and arranged to be in France for about 5 days.
A few days later, Sue, the mother of the bride phoned me, knowing of my many years in transport,
asked if I could organise a coach to convey the wedding guests from the UK, to and from the wedding.
I got a good deal from Holmeswood Coaches from Rufford, near Ormskirk. This is Roz driving a M.A.N.
29 seater, arriving at the hotel in the city centre of Angers, ( Twin Town of Wigan ). The manager of
Holmeswood Coaches could not understand why the coach pickup points were Sutton Coldfield and
South Mimms, and other than me and my wife, there was nobody else from the North West of England,
as we were already booked on the ferry from Portsmouth. I could have gone on the coach for free.
The 2nd picture is me driving up the ramp to the upper deck linkspan to board M.V.Normandie at
Ouistreham on our journey home. This Mitsubishi Space Wagon was one of the best cars I owned.
Robert
I have corrected it, 
Cheers, Ray.
…before the model name. BUT,they are all officially listed under the Salvador Caetano -later Caetano marque names.
